SEATTLE, WASH. -- Cal State LA's women's volleyball team was simply sensational Thursday night in the program's first trip to the Elite Eight in 17 years.

The No. 4 seed Golden Eagles, led by a phenomenal performance by sophomore All-American Emily Elliott, started quickly and never looked back in a stunningly efficient 25-11, 25-14, 25-18 victory over No. 5 Gannon in Seattle Pacific's Royal Brougham Pavilion. Cal State LA (25-6) was hitting on all cylinders and on its way to a national semifinal appearance for the first time since 2005. The Golden Eagles will face No. 1 seed Concordia-St. Paul on Friday at 6:30 p.m.

The Golden Eagles are seeking their first-ever national title.

Step one of their journey at the Elite Eight was nearly flawless.

Elliott was unstoppable as she continued a postseason stretch of superb performances. She had 20 kills, six aces and nine digs in the three sets and hit at a sizzling .441 percentage. She had 20 of the team's 36 kills in the victory. Iane Henke added nine kills and seven digs.

Sam Deinek had seven kills for Gannon (29-6), the Atlantic Region champions.

Jameson Sanders led an outstanding defensive effort and had a match-high 14 digs. Jaden Grova and Eliza Cannon combined for 27 set assists and Ashley Dittmann had four kills and two service aces.

The Golden Eagles had a 36-23 advantage in kills and outhit the Golden Knights, .301-.054. The Golden Eagles also had a big edge at the net with a 7-5 advantage in blocks, but that statistic doesn't include the number of attacks Cal State LA was able to get a touch on at the net and turn around into a solid offensive attack.

The Golden Eagles also had a decided advantage at the service line, with 12 aces and just four errors. Gannon had four aces and seven errors. Elliott came out and set the tone, with all six of her aces coming in the first two sets. She also had seven kills in the opening set, six in the second and seven in the third with a variety of shots.

The Golden Eagles jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead in the first set behind the serving of Henke and built a 12-4 lead behind a strong serving run from Elliott that included a block from Eliza Cannon and Shelby Grubbs, a block from Grubbs and Dittmann, an ace by Elliott, a kill by Cannon and a kill by Dittmann. Three kills by Elliott in a four-point span extended the lead to 20-10. Another kill by Elliott was followed by four strong serves from Sanders, who ended the set with an ace.

Gannon scored the first three points of the second set and led 5-2 and 6-4 before Cal State LA went on a 7-0 run behind the serving of Elliott, who had a pair of aces and gave her team an 11-6 lead with a kill. A block by Haley Roundtree and Henke pushed the lead to 16-8 and two kills by Elliott and an ace by Grova made it 19-10. The Golden Knights closed to within 21-14, but Elliott got the serve back with a kill and then served out the set with three straight aces.

Cal State LA was even at 13-13 in the final set before taking the lead for good with a four-point run. Elliott started the run with a kill and Dittmann sandwiched a pair of aces around another kill by Elliott to make it 17-13. Gannon pulled to within 17-16, but a service error and two straight blocks by Roundtree and Henke behind good serves from Tehya Chadwick moved the lead to 20-16.

Cal State LA took a 23-17 lead on another block by Roundtree and Henke and ultimately closed out the match on a kill by Henke and an attack error.

The Golden Eagles now advance to the national semifinals for the third time in program history.